Fluff and Warmth
by Agent Dragicorn
Summary: Character Interaction Exploration Project. A collection of shorts with ANY pairing. Contains both platonic (F) and romantic (R) interactions. Pairings and nature of pairings will be stated in the chapter titles. Accepting prompts! PM me or drop me a message on Tumblr. Chapter 3: NozoEli R/F
1. NicoMaki & NozoNico F

**Author's Note**

**So as you may have seen from my previous fic, I'm doing a character interaction exploration project. So this will be a collection of some shorts (not the bottoms) of various pairings, both romantic and platonic.**

**NOTE: It's called "character interaction exploration" for a reason. These fics will probably be my first time writing these pairings so... Please R/R so I can improve on them!**

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><p><strong>NicoMakiNozoNico - F || Prompt by icebubie (Tumblr)**

_Music books... Music books..._

Nico scanned through the bookshelves in the reference books section. Contrary to popular belief, she did actually read reference books when the time called for it. Especially if it concerned her new idol group. Since she was evidently the best idol in her group, it was only natural that she should create the songs too. Nico searched past another shelf, hoping to find the music book that she was looking for.

After a while, she finally spotted it. However, just as she reached out for it, someone else's hand appeared in her sight and took the book.

_No way, that's the last one!_

Not wanting the last ten minutes she had spent on finding the book to go to waste, she decided to turn on her usual Nico charm. After all, who could resist the cute devil that she was? Plus, this would be good practice for her future idol career.

"Ah! That's the book Nico wanted!" She pouted as she exclaimed, grabbing the attention of her rival.

When she looked up, Nico was met with the sight of a (grudgingly admittedly) beautiful girl with crimson hair. Said girl, who was probably around the same age as her, was looking down at her quizzically.

_Now that I've gotten her attention, it's time to strike!_

"You know, Nico _really_ wanted that book. Nico has been looking for it for a long, long time and she finally found it here," she fluttered her eyelashes at the girl, gauging her reaction.

To her utter shock, the other girl just continued wearing an impassive expression on her face. Her head was cocked to the right slightly, as if wondering what she was watching now.

_Does she not understand that the wonderful would be Super Idol Nico Yazawa is talking to her now?! How can she not show any sign of infatuation to the super cute Nico Nii?_

Puffing her cheeks slightly in indignation (although she did it subtly, super idols never break their character, after all), Nico decided to up her game.

"So, shall we do an exchange? You can give me that book and I'll give you my autograph," she added with a wink.

As the words left her mouth, the girl's stoic expression broke. Unfortunately, it turned into a grimace.

"Why would I want a piece of paper with someone else's name on it?" She drawled as she started twirling a lock of her hair.

"You-you're calling soon to be Super Idol Nico Nii's autograph... _a piece of paper with a name?_ Do you not know how precious an idol's early day autographs are? You could buy a million of this book with my autograph in future!"

"Idol? I'm not interested in that... Besides, I want this book too."

"Why, you! How could you turn down THE Nico Yazawa! Even after I've risked getting caught by paparazzi by exposing who I am!"

The girl just continued wearing a disinterested grimace on her face while twirling her lock of hair. Nico felt her frustration peak. Just as she was about to switch tactics, someone interrupted.

"Maki, did you find your book?" A purple twin-tailed girl appeared from behind the shelves. "Oh, who's this?"

"Someone that wants this book too. I got it first, though, then she started making a weird proposition."

"Weird?! You just don't know how to appreciate the value of it!"

"There's no value to appreciate in the first place!"

"Now, now. What did you offer?" The purple haired girl intervened in their mini faceoff, diffusing the growing tension.

"An autograph by the one and only soon to be Super Idol Nico Nii!"

"Oh my, how precious! We'll take it," she clapped her hands together and smiled warmly.

_Finally, a sane person that understands!_

"Hmph! Since I'm gracious, I'll let whatever happened before slide. I'll even give you one each!" Nico smirked triumphantly as she reached in her bag for her notebook and marker.

She made sure to sign them big and clear, happy to be giving out her first autographs. Even if they didn't ask for it first.

"Nozomi! What are you doing!"

"Come on, Maki, she's just a child. We can get the book somewhere else."

_Wait... A child?_

The thought registered in her mind just as they exchanged the items.

"Thanks so much! We should be going now, so see you on the screen sometime in the future, Yazawa!" The purple haired girl cheerfully bid farewell as she pushed the protesting red haired girl away.

Nico stared blankly at the now empty space in front of her, holding the book dumbly.

_They thought that I was a kid?_

As the realisation of the reason as to why they had accepted her trade so easily crashed down onto her, Nico felt a pain worse than getting rejected. A pain caused by being pitied and pacified.

_How did the purple one know my surname, though?_

As her next thought flitted through her mind, she spotted the pair exiting the bookstore. The purple haired one, as if sensing Nico's eyes, turned and shared eye contact with her. She winked and waved at her and Nico noticed something she did not just a while ago.

Otonokizaka's school uniform.

It wasn't pity and pacification after all.

Her heart surged slightly with that knowledge.

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><p><strong>AN**

**So... Headcanon whereby Nozomi has always been a supporter of Nico. I think these two have a great friendship between them that is really underrated hahaha.**


	2. NozoEli R

**Author's Note**

**Quick update just because it's NozoEli hahaha. Been dying to write them for a while.**

**EVEN IF THIS WAS COMPLETELY EMBARRASSING TO WRITE.**

**I literally breezed through this in an hour because I was so embarrassed. Hope it's not too bad considering I wouldn't even read such a level of... R-ratedness. (Even if this isn't really)**

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><p><strong>NozoEli - R || Prompt by Anonymous (Tumblr)<strong>

Eli gulped.

Seriously, what was she thinking when she had agreed to this? Nozomi played with her tarot cards all day long. Of course she would be great at card games.

Sweat dripped down her forehead, ironic since she should be feeling cold right now. After all, she was barely clothed. All that remained on her was her underwear and that was embarrassing enough. What made it even worse was that Nozomi had only taken off her hair ties.

She prayed intensely for a card in her favour to appear as she reached out for the top card of the deck. If a Heart card appeared, her flush would be complete. The odds would be in her favour then.

She flipped the card over and to her utter joy, it was a Queen of Hearts. She kept her face expressionless, though. But Nozomi saw through her as though Eli was screaming that the card was in her favour.

"Oh, it's a good one for you, huh?" Nozomi's usual teasing smirk started to appear once more.

Eli maintained a nonchalant expression and shrugged. She knew speaking now would only do her harm. It was too hard to lie to Nozomi, even if it was only just a small thing like this.

"Hmm, since there are three Hearts here, looks like you have a Flush," Nozomi flashed a Cheshire grin.

The surprise broke through Eli's mask for a split second but that was enough to confirm it for Nozomi. Her grin grew even wider and seeing the triumphant expression on her face, Eli knew she had lost.

"Let's just reveal our cards, shall we?" She groaned, preparing herself for the torturous, sweet teasing that was sure to ensue.

Eli put her two cards face up and revealed her Flush. She looked across the table and saw Nozomi's cards. Queen of Spades and Ace of Spades. Nozomi had a Full House, for the third time since they had started the game.

Eli sighed and buried her face in her hands, embarrassed just by thinking about what was coming next. It wasn't as though they haven't seen each other completely bare before. After all, they have done _that_. But taking of her clothes article by article was definitely different. She felt more exposed than ever, somehow.

"How do you always get the good combos..." Eli's muffled complaint came from through the holes between her fingers.

"My spiritual power works best on cards, after all. I just need to will the cards I want to come to me."

At this point, Eli didn't know whether to believe her girlfriend or not. Sighing, she sat back upright and folded her arms across her chest, averting her gaze.

"So, take your pick I guess," she tried to say nonchalantly, although her face flushed red.

Nozomi's smile grew as she noticed Eli's discomfort. Really, she was just too cute. She tapped her finger on her chin, contemplating her next move.

"Well, I do want to see those soft breasts of yours. I'm sure you know just how much I love them," she winked as she got up from her seat.

Eli fidgeted and flushed even more, staring so hard at the wall that she would probably burn a hole through it somehow. Nozomi slowly walked towards the other side of the table and Eli could feel the _heat_. The level of tension in the air was climbing exponentially as Nozomi drew nearer.

"But what's down there is the real gem, though. I don't have a sweet tooth but I'm sure that's an exception," Nozomi teased as she crouched down to Eli's level.

Slowly, she brought a finger to Eli's collarbone and started to trail downwards.

"This is so hard. Should I go with this..."

Her finger reached the valley between Eli's chest and hooked the front of her bra, tugging it slightly. Eli gasped from the sensation of the fabric rubbing against her. Seeing her reaction, Nozomi's eyes grew darker. Her finger continued its trail south, sliding along Eli's exposed abs. She traced the contours downwards, getting closer to her next destination.

"...Or this?"

Nozomi fiddled with the hem of Eli's underwear and watched as the girl squirmed slightly underneath her touch. Eli's breathing grew laboured as she tried to distract herself from the temptress before her.

"What do you think?" Nozomi asked as she placed her other hand on Eli's cold thigh, sending a jolt through the other girl.

"I-I don't... know..." Eli forced out as Nozomi started trailing both hands upwards, each to one of the two options.

She gulped as she looked at the hands on her exposed body, feeling dizzy from the tension and heat.

"What about... both?" Nozomi smirked.

Eli snapped her eyes to Nozomi's and her mouth became dry, as though a sudden drought had befallen in her mouth. Nozomi's eyes were a dark green, clouded with lust and desire. She was sure hers were no different.

Eli's eyes gave Nozomi the answer she needed and her triumphant smile grew.

"Your wish is my command, then."

Nozomi silently thanked the gods for bestowing her with such luck. Not with good cards, but with a dense girlfriend. Two decks of cards lay forgotten as the two commenced their new _activity_, one on the table and one just beside Nozomi's previous spot.

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><p><strong>AN**

**Let me just die of embarrassment now. R/R would be greatly appreciated for this since it's my first time exploring this kind of situation hahaha. (Hope you guys enjoyed it much more than I did while writing it omg)**

**Also, thanks for the reviews and prompts! For anyone planning on giving me a prompt (I really don't mind anything ^^), please include a possible situation too! It can be anything and as vague or specific as you want~**


	3. NozoEli RF

**Author's Note**

**Totally guilty of not studying and writing instead. I really hope that I don't die for my paper tomorrow... :S **

**Anyways, I hope this one doesn't disappoint! :/**

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><p><strong>NozoEli - RF || Prompt by lilamala (Tumblr)**

The lunch bell finally went off and their Chemistry teacher ceased his incessant droning about Electrochemistry. All around Eli, classmates sighed in relief for finally being able to have their well deserved break time. She stretched a little, neck slightly sore from furiously looking between the blackboard and her notebook as she took her notes.

"Eli, do you want to go for lunch? I heard the cafeteria has pretty good food today!"

"Or if you have brought your own lunch, do you want to join us?"

Her classmates gathered around her desk, inviting her to eat with them once more. It wasn't an uncommon sight ever since she had transferred over. In fact, it was surprising that only her classmates were asking now. Usually there would be others from neighbouring classes too.

Eli had climbed up the social ladder extremely quickly ever since she came to Otonokizaka just a few months ago. It wasn't as if she had intended to; something about her just made her so noticeable. Despite being so new to the school, she had won the Student Council Elections (granted, just for the secretary position) by a huge margin and was expected to become the Student Council President the next school year.

That is, if she would stop hanging around the loser of the school.

This was a thought that was shared amongst almost everyone in the school. Recently, all Eli had been doing during her free time was to spend it with the girl at the bottom of the food chain: Toujou Nozomi. No one had even noticed her before Eli started talking to her. She had no friends in school and never said a word to anyone. Her grades were good but for some reason, even if she seemed to always be reading, she was never the top. She didn't belong in any club and after school, she headed home immediately. Such a girl definitely didn't belong anywhere near the school's idol.

But Eli was never one to care about such trivialities.

"Sorry, I promised to have lunch with Nozomi today. If you'd like, you all could join us," Eli flashed her usual lady killing smile, unbeknownst to all the fluttering hearts of her classmates.

"But she's such a loser! Why are you even friends with her, Eli?"

Immediately, the other girls covered that girl's mouth. It wasn't the first time that someone had said this to Eli. It wasn't the first time that Eli had gotten upset by those words, too.

"Don't call her that. Nozomi is nice and interesting. Don't insult people when you don't even know them," Eli retorted and left the classroom with her lunch briskly, leaving her classmates to chide the girl that had caused her to be in such a bad mood.

Eli couldn't understand why no one had noticed Nozomi and why they held her with such low regard. The moment she had entered the school, she noticed Nozomi in the distance, always silently reading her book and observing others. She was intriguing and mysterious which drew Eli to her. Somehow, Eli had a feeling that Nozomi was as guarded as she was in the past, if not more. She had been determined to find out more about the mysterious girl and break through her walls.

Thus began her continuous efforts to befriend the girl. Initially, Nozomi simply avoided her, not believing that the new student would want to actually get to know her. But Eli continued trying and eventually, Nozomi opened up to her. The weeks had passed and they slowly got closer. The more Eli found out about Nozomi, the more she wanted to know. Her curiosity growing instead of being sated, she started spending more time with Nozomi such that it reached the point now, whereby they would spend most of their free time in school together.

Eli pushed the door to the rooftop - their usual lunch place - open. The cool autumn breeze washed upon her face and Eli immediately felt at peace. The rooftop just exuded a serene sense of feeling that Eli always found herself appreciating. At times, she wondered if it wasn't just the rooftop but also had something to do with the girl sitting just beside the ladder, waiting patiently with her lunch.

"You're later today; did you get hoarded by girls again?" Nozomi teased, her eyes twinkling with that playful glint that seemed omnipresent whenever she was with Eli.

"They were inviting me for lunch as usual. I asked them to join us but I guess they aren't. Sorry about that," Eli apologised, both for being late and on behalf of her classmates' behaviour.

"It's alright. I prefer it when we're alone, anyway. It's nice to have you all to myself," Nozomi playfully replied, deflecting Eli's apologies.

Eli felt her face flush as per normal. Teasing seemed to be an integral part of their friendship, even if it was mainly one sided. At times like these, she always wondered if Nozomi just took pleasure in seeing her flustered, or if she had actually said them with some truth behind those words. Eli kind of hoped that it was actually the latter.

_Wait, what?_

She flushed even further upon catching her thoughts. No, no way. She couldn't think of Nozomi in that way. They were best friends. Or so Eli viewed. Did Nozomi think so too? Or was she just getting ahead of herself?

Now Eli started to worry. What if Nozomi didn't actually like her being here? Sure, she had found out that the reason why Nozomi was apart from everyone else was because she had felt that most friendships wouldn't be permanent and thus not worth it. This meant that them being friends was something, right? But then again, Nozomi had _chosen_ to stay away from everyone whereas Eli had pushed herself onto Nozomi. She didn't give her the option to say otherwise.

Come to think of it, maybe that's why she had been so reluctant to befriend Eli in the first place. Nozomi was selfless; Eli wouldn't put it beyond her to pamper to her selfish wants.

Oh god.

She was being a bother, wasn't she?

"Elichi? What's wrong? Keep with that frown and you're going to get wrinkles, you know," Nozomi lightly tapped the crease between Eli's eyebrows, bringing her out of her reverie.

"Nozomi... I just realised. I've been a bother, haven't I? It just occurred to me that I've been the one pushing myself onto you since the beginning and I didn't even ask for your opinion as to whether we could be friends. And here I was selfishly thinking that we were best friends when I didn't even check your feelings. I'm so sorry, I-"

A slender finger was placed on her lips and ceased Eli's word vomit. Nozomi looked back at her with such a wide grin that Eli couldn't help but smile too. That girl's smile was seriously contagious, if only everyone could see it. She looked absolutely radiant to Eli.

_There I go with the unnecessary thoughts again_, Eli mentally reproached herself.

"How did you even manage to go there? I really wonder what your train of thoughts are like, Elichi. But anyway, best friend?" Nozomi smirked while grinning with glee.

Eli blushed once more at her slip. At this rate, she was going to need a blood transfusion to the other parts of her body because her face was seriously getting too much blood. She hoped that Nozomi wouldn't be too weirded out by her sudden declaration. Hoping to diffuse the situation, she decided to simply brush it off as a joke.

"N-no, I meant like. You know. Not best friends, I mean, like maybe. I mean we've only known each other for a few months, so maybe that's too soon..." Eli trailed off as a pout slowly formed on Nozomi's lips, replacing her joyful smile earlier.

Immediately, Eli missed it and felt a desperate need to remove the sadness from Nozomi's face.

"So, we're not best friends? And here I was being so happy, too..." Nozomi confessed hesitantly.

It took Eli a few beats for Nozomi's words to fully sink in. Then another few beats for her to respond.

"O-of course we are! I mean, if you want to? I was just afraid that you didn't feel the same way so I tried to deflect it. I'm sorry," Eli hastily tried to recover.

"What, so that's that you were worried about? Elichi, usually it would be the nerd that worries over this, not the popular girl," Nozomi taunted, her spirits high once more.

"Hey, none of those social status stuff here, okay? You know it doesn't matter to me," Eli looked her straight in the eye and said seriously.

She knew that it had always been a concern of Nozomi's and the rumours that everyone had been spreading about how being with Nozomi was damaging to Eli's social life didn't help at all. But Eli genuinely didn't care about all of that. All she knew was that she wanted to be Nozomi's friend and that they were best friends now. That was more important than the fleeting social statuses and popularity.

So she told her just that.

A gentle smile graced Nozomi's lips and Eli felt her heart swell. That was normal between best friends, right?

"We'll be best friends forever, right Elichi?" Nozomi shyly asked, not caring that she sounded slightly childish now.

She deserved to be at times.

"Of course. Best friends forever," Eli assured.

They finally started on their lunch after that, both eating in comfortable silence, the air around them light and warm just like their hearts. But for Eli, a small pang in her heart caused her some discomfort. The thought of always being best friends made her feel a little sad, although she didn't understand why.

Little did she know that the girl just beside her felt the same way, just that she understood the reasons for the slight pain in her chest. But she told herself to be grateful with what she had for now. And maybe, she could allow herself to dream of a future whereby they were more than best friends. Just maybe.

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><p><strong>AN**

**Hope that was okay :P I kinda think the standard at which I'm writing has dropped quite a fair bit so I'm going to try to get it back and go even further after my exams! Please bear with me :S**

**Guest 1: Thanks for the kind words! This one wasn't really funny I guess, whoops :P**

**Kurama16: Here you go then! Hope the wait was worth it!**

**ihavenoidea: Hahaha you can PM me a prompt through here or Tumblr if you'd like ^^ I'm kinda accepting any pairing (even if it's against my OTP hahahaha). Or if you just want to see a story of them, I've received one or two prompts from others about EliUmi so you could wait for those too :P**

**Guest 2: Ikr, Nozomi is such a huge tease :P Hahha that sounds good! I'll work on it after everything else ^^ Thanks for the prompt!**

**Anyways, sincerely thankful to everyone who has read, liked, commented or followed my work. It's really heartwarming to know that people do appreciate my work so yay, thank you all so much! **


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